2/18/2018 12:25 AM PST

U.S. soccer legend Alexi Lalas﻿loves the idea of Zlatan Ibrahimovićcoming to play stateside ... but he's warning the league -- DON'T GET SCREWED ON THE PRICE!

Remember, Lalas was the GM of the L.A. Galaxy when the team (and the league) signed a 31-year-old David Beckham to a deal in 2007 that ultimately paid him $255 million!!!

Now, with rumors 36-year-old Zlatan is thinking of making a similar move -- we had to ask Lalas how he would handle the situation.

"If Zlatan wants to come, if he doesn't cost too much money ... then I think it's something the Galaxy and MLS have to do. I think it would be wonderful on and off the field. He's worth the price of admission."

"He's a character on and off the field," Lalas added.

It's true -- Zlatan's got his own cologne, underwear line ... and once performed on a song that hit the Swedish music charts.

11/6/2017 7:21 AM PST

Breaking News

A heated altercation between Jozy Altidore and his ex-USMNT teammate Sacha Kljestan﻿ escalated into a full-blown war during halftime of an MLS game this weekend -- with yelling and cussing and police ... and it was all caught on video.

It all went down at halftime during Sunday's match between Jozy's Toronto FC and Sacha's NY Red Bulls, where things were already chippy in the 1st half.

Jozy claims Sacha tried to "pull up on me while my back was turned" -- and TFC coach Greg Vanney says he was "ambushed" by 5 or 6 New York Red Bulls players in total.

Sacha's got a different take -- claiming Jozy's the one who started the fight by shoving him into a wall.

Either way, the video is crazy -- you can see players like Michael Bradley trying to keep the peace as cops and stadium security rush in to maintain order.

Both Jozy and Sacha were ejected from the game. The Red Bulls ultimately won the game 1-0.

10/3/2017 1:36 PM PDT

Alex Morgan was "highly impaired" and yelling at Disney staffers in front of guests when she was thrown out of Epcot Center on Sunday ... this according to the incident report obtained by TMZ Sports.

We broke the story, Morgan, along with several MLS soccer players, was booted from the park after an incident at one of the bars on the premises.

Now, it seems Morgan's entire group was HAMMERED -- with Morgan allegedly bragging that she knows the Orlando SWAT team in an effort to pressure officers to let her go.

The report, filed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, says they were initially called to the U.K. pub around 8:20 PM after MLS player Giles Barnes cut in front of another patron in line and got into a verbal argument.

The report notes Morgan's entire group was "impaired and verbally aggressive."'

Giles was escorted out of the pub and told not to come back.

As deputies were escorting Barnes out of the park, officers were called about the other members of the group making a scene.

"As we passed Space Ship Earth, I observed several people were being escorted to the front. They were all being very loud and belligerent towards staff around guests."

The deputy noted that Morgan was especially out of control -- "yelling, screaming and taking video and possibly pictures."

"She appeared to be highly impaired. Deputy Johnson heard Ms. Morgan make a loud verbal statement that she knows the Orlando SWAT team."

Ultimately, 4 people in Morgan's group were kicked out of the park including Morgan and MLS player Donny Toia.

7/29/2016 6:05 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

He's one of the BEST goalkeepers in the world ... and Chelsea superstar Thibaut Courtois says he's considering moving to the U.S. and playing in the MLS one day.

The 24-year-old superstar was at a Hublot event in L.A. Thursday night -- when we asked if he would ever consider following in the footsteps of stars like David Beckham and Robbie Keane who migrated from the Premiere League to the MLS.

"Yeah, I might retire here," Courtois said ... "It's nice to have an experience abroad of Europe and if I would choose a country to do that it would be here."

4/2/2016 12:35 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

Anyone with dreams of watching 38-year-old Chad Ochocinco try his hand at the OTHER football is in for a rude awakening ... 'cause the ex-NFLer says there is NO WAY he'd ever try his hand on the pitch.

We got Chad leaving a restaurant in L.A. when we asked the soccer addict if he had any plans to take his athleticism to the MLS now that it looks like he's done in the NFL.

Not a crazy question ... Ocho plays a lot of pick up soccer in his off time ... and looks pretty good out there when he's doing it ... not to mention the whole "being a world class athlete thing."

Check out the clip ... Chad says it's never going to happen ... but does give us a hint at what his celebration dance would look like if he ever scored a professional goal.

3/10/2014 3:34 PM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

One package to rule them all ... and that package belongs to David Beckham ... so says Tommy Hilfiger who tells TMZ Sports the soccer icon is the GREATEST male undie model of all time.

This clip is actually pretty great ... it starts with our photog asking Tommy for a modeling job -- and in what may be the nicest "Don't call us" moment of all time, Tommy sings Beckham's praises as the "Underwear model of the century."

The interesting part -- Beckham never modeled for Tommy ... in fact, DB only ever modeled for the competition (Armani, H&M).